Hacker News Reader

Comment by boffinAudio | Hacker News Reader

Another 50-something year old here, also a synthesizerist since I was a teenager.

I've found it very, very useful to have a piano in my studio, even though I haven't taken lessons - it has been great to engage in various Youtube channels and learn proper keys playing, fingering, chord construction and so on.

Also, Rick Beato is a god. If you're a synthesizerist but not a keyboardist, you need to spend some time with Rick.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJquYOG5EL82sKTfH9aMA9Q

He's gonna teach you things you should know and that WILL make you a better musician, especially around the subject of keyboarding and playing.

View on HN

An alternative is to get a good pad controller. You get a lot out of this beyond just playability (such as knobs — physical knobs are great for experimentation and fast, dynamic changes to things like filters), but it's still something that can be played like a piano in terms of expressiveness. But it's also something that will easily fit on your desk, and the grid layout lends itself to quickly memorizing chord patterns.

I would agree that regardless of the type of music you make (including techno and related genres, which are among my favourites), having a playable instrument will make a big difference to your production. A huge part of this is just happy accidents. The synth part at around 0:40 in this track [1] came about with just pad mashing. A standard part of my process is to record the audio output of whatever noodling I'm doing on a pad controller, pick out the good parts, and loop them. It's way more fun than drawing notes!

[1] https://soundcloud.com/the-track-club/requiem-for-the-voicel...

Can you recommend some pad controller for looping?

Ableton Push is absolutely fantastic - the original v1 device is pretty inexpensive as a used purchase, and it's still masses of fun. Very well built as well

Seconding this - the push was amazing for me without a big music background, as chord exploration became shape based, instead of needing piano knowledge.

A Deluge [1] or a NORNS+GRID [2] rig is also a good way to get the shape-based chord understanding without an investment in clavier-thought:

[1] - http://synthstrom.com/

[2] - http://monome.org/

Actually, just the NORNS itself is going to get you booted up with some ridiculously fantastic music theory, especially if you're the kind that reads the source ..

Thanks, I'll check it! Does it work without Ableton/DAW too?

By the way, I've been using Plinky, a Eurorack module, with touch buttons in a grid layout: https://plinkysynth.com/

Not sure on how much use it is without Ableton, sorry - I'll need someone else to answer that

It requires Ableton (there might be unofficial integrations with other DAWs). I have an Akai Force which is completely standalone, not even a computer needed. But I'd honestly recommend Ableton+Push unless someone really needs it to be standalone.

It's a MIDI controller, so in order for it to be useful it has to be connected to something that can accept MIDI inputs.

Loopy pro on iPad with an optional midi pad controller

Agree with others that the Push is good; I have a Push 2 that I love. It's great for chords and melodies because the layout is massive (8x8). However, it's somewhat expensive (the 2, anyway) and the pads themselves could be better in terms of expressiveness/sensitivity. Also, it's only worth getting a Push if you have Ableton; as a controller for Ableton it really shines.

If you want really expressive pads, which foster dynamics and also allow you to do things like finger drumming (I really recommend questforgroove.com if that sounds interesting to you), the best pad controllers are the ones in the Maschine line-up, by Native Instruments. I have an MK3 but the more basic versions are also apparently very good. The layout is much smaller (4x4) but the pads are massive and super sensitive, they are a joy to play.

A lot of people also use Launch pads by Novation, I don't know much about them, but they are quite popular and they are, I believe, on the cheaper side. https://novationmusic.com/en/launch

Rumour has it that a Push 3 is not too far away, so keep that in mind when considering the Push lineup from Ableton.

> Also, it's only worth getting a Push if you have Ableton; as a controller for Ableton it really shines.

Quick addendum here: I've got a Push 1 that I cribbed for $150 on Ebay a few years ago (a steal at the time!) and absolutely loved my time with it/Ableton Live. When I switched my machines over to Linux though, Ableton didn't follow, so instead I picked up Bitwig and tried using that as a drop-in replacement.

Now, Bitwig is a pretty dang good DAW (I could write an entire essay's worth on why I love it), but what really knocked my socks off was DrivenByMoss' extentions[0]: this guy wrote an impressively expansive Bitwig plugin that lets you use the Push as something other than a generic MIDI controller. What's more is that I think I actually prefer the DrivenByMoss workflow to Ableton's. Partially because of Bitwig's modularity and partially because of the degree of control on display, you can do some outright stupid stuff with Bitwig+Push that isn't really possible on Live. It really is some of the most fun I've ever had making music.

[0] http://www.mossgrabers.de/Software/Reaper/Reaper.html

Very cool! I didn’t know about that. I have been hearing a lot of positive stuff about Bitwig in the electronic music community. Personally I have invested too much time (and money) to switch from Ableton, but if I were starting now, I’d definitely consider it.

I have one of these that I regularly get a kick out of smashing on my way to work each day:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/birdkids/offgrid-make-m...

However I also have one of these that is also amazing, just a bit fiddly to wire up to the iPad:

https://www.amazon.de/Keith-McMillen-Instruments-Multitouch-...

Of course, and Akai LPD8 is cheaper, but also needs fiddling - which is why the OffGrid is my current "pad of the day" choice.

That Grid device looks very cool. What do you connect it to? Like I assume you’re using it with mobile app(s)? What works well?

I've been using it with almost every synth app on my iPad with success .. once you get it connected, its basically a MIDI controller.

Most fun with Animoog Z, Beatmaker, Loopy Pro and Endless ..

I am also on Endlesss…username adriandz. Maybe we’ll cross paths at some point!

Rick Beato is awesome. If you enjoy him, you should check out Pat Finnerty.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnLozCO8w7uJODg8_iAGaVw

He has a series called "What makes this song stink" which is just gold. And there are some digs at Beato all done in good friendly fun.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com